'I got my head handed to me:' Warren Buffett sounds an alarm on Walmart and the entire retail industry
Paul Morigi/Getty Images for Fortune/Time Inc
In an interview with CNBC's Becky Quick on Monday, Buffett called retailing "too tough" and warned against investing in the industry.
He praised Amazon as a leader in ecommerce, and suggested that Walmart may never catch up to the online behemoth.
"That is a tough, tough, tough competitive force," Buffett said, referring to Amazon. "Now Walmart is pushing forward online themselves. They have got all kinds of strengths, but I just decided that I'd look for a little easier game."
Buffett made the remarks after Berkshire Hathaway sold off $900 million of Walmart stock, and instead invested billions in airlines.
"I think retailing is just too tough or me, just generally," Buffett said. "We bought a department store in 1966 and I got my head handed to me. I've been in various things in retailing... I bought Tesco over in the UK and got my head handed to me. Retailing is very tough and I think the online thing is hard to figure out."
Get the latest Walmart stock price here.
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